NFL suspends Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway for four games

Friday

BEREA — Antonio Callaway's lack of practice time this summer with Browns starters makes even more sense now.

On Friday, the NFL announced Callaway has been suspended without pay for the first four regular-season games of 2019 for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

"I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a mistake and I own that. I have taken steps to make myself better and I appreciate the Browns standing by me and supporting me during this time," Callaway said in a statement released by the Browns. "I know there’s nothing I can say to regain trust; it will all be about my actions."

Callaway's impending lack of availability explains why the Browns relegated a player who had long been expected to serve as their No. 3 wide receiver behind starters Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry mostly to a backup role during training camp.

The previous public explanation for Callaway's lack of first-string snaps was he showed up to training camp out of shape, a revelation made Aug. 1 by offensive coordinator Todd Monken. But now the primary reason is known.

"We're going to continue to support Antonio," coach Freddie Kitchens said Friday after the 12th practice of training camp. "He knows what he has to do, and hopefully he does it. Hopefully he's committed enough to do it.

"I think he understands the significance of this and he's going to work to make things right.

"Sometimes people lump these sort of things into being a bad person. This is a great kid now. So we're going to support him until he proves us otherwise. He knows what he has to do, though."

Callaway will miss games against the Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens. He'll be eligible to return to the active roster Sept. 30 and play Oct. 7 in a Week 5 "Monday Night Football" game on the road against the San Francisco 49ers. He is allowed to participate in all preseason practices and games.

However, Callaway will likely sit out the remaining three exhibition games because he suffered a high-ankle sprain early in the second quarter of Thursday night's preseason opener, when he caught three passes for 42 yards in a 30-10 win over Washington at FirstEnergy Stadium. Kitchens revealed the nature of Callaway's injury after the latter missed Friday's practice.

"He got it and played through it the rest of the first half," Kitchens said, "and it really swelled up on him at halftime."

The suspension will hurt, too. It'll cost Callaway $134,117, which is more than one-fifthof his $570,000 salary for this year.

"We’re disappointed in Antonio," Browns General Manager John Dorsey said in a news release. "Freddie and I have had a direct conversation with him about where we stand. He understands our expectations of him. We will continue to support him as long as he remains committed to taking advantage of the resources made available to him by our club and the league to help him become the best version of himself as a person first and foremost."

Callaway has a long history of off-field trouble, so this is just his most recent piece of baggage to be unearthed.

On Aug. 5, 2018, Callaway was pulled over by Strongsville police at 2:59 a.m. near SouthPark Mall for failing to yield to oncoming traffic. An officer found a small amount of marijuana under the driver’s seat and reported Callaway also had a suspended driver's license.

Callaway told police — and, days later, the Browns — his car had just been shipped from Florida to Ohio and he didn’t know marijuana was in it. One of the officers on the scene of the traffic stop could be heard on a dashcam video saying Callaway "claimed his little brother who smokes dope was using the car."

Another officer said on the dashcam video he "got real nervous" when he found a gun part and ammunition while searching Callaway's car.

This past winter, Callaway’s misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession stemming from the traffic stop in Strongsville was dismissed. Callaway pleaded guilty to driving without a valid operator’s license. He paid $911 in fines and court costs and received one year of monitored probation for the license offense.

As a rookie last year, Callaway started 11 of the 16 games in which he appeared and caught 43 passes for 586 yards and a team-high five touchdowns.

Dorsey concluded Callaway had first-round talent, but the Browns got the 22-year-old speedster in the fourth round of the 2018 draft because of character concerns.

In the buildup to last year's draft, Callaway submitted a diluted drug test sample at the NFL Scouting Combine and thereby entered the league in its substance-abuse program. He admitted to NFL Network he smoked marijuana "several" weeks before the combine.

Dorsey traded up nine spots to pick Callaway 105th overall despite the alarming number of red flags in the University of Florida product’s background.

He was suspended by Florida for the entire 2017 season for involvement with a credit-card fraud scheme. Felony charges were dropped after a plea deal was reached. He was cited for marijuana possession in May 2017 as a passenger in a car with a 40-year-old career criminal.

He was suspended for Florida's 2016 spring practices during a sexual assault investigation and later cleared of three charges by a Title IX hearing officer. He testified he was high on marijuana during the incident and was found not responsible in the sexual assault investigation.

With the Browns striking a deal to trade running back Duke Johnson to the Houston Texans on Thursday and the NFL suspending Callaway on Friday, Kitchens is eager to see how his team responds.

"I fully expect us to handle it very well," he said. "That's what we've been preparing to do. I've said from the beginning I can't wait to see what kind of team we have when adversity hits because that's going to let you know what you've got."

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his Browns coverage at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ByNateUlrich and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.

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